Who will fill the gaps left by Benoot, Van Baarle, Jorgenson and Kooij at Visma | Lease a Bike?

In recent years the spring foundations were solid, with Van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Dylan van Baarle and Matteo Jorgenson as the main pillars. Depending on the race in 2025, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, Olav Kooij, Julien Vermote, Tosh Van der Sande, Victor Campenaerts and Matthew Brennan also played roles.

After Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe took over the Van Dijke brothers and Jan Tratnik at the end of 2024, Decathlon CMA CGM pushed hard with strong contracts for Benoot and Kooij. “We had budgeted for seven riders to leave, but Benoot and Kooij weren’t among those we expected. In the end, it was nine,” said CEO Richard Plugge, who had anticipated Van Baarle’s exit — the Dutchman moved to Soudal Quick-Step.

Also departing in 2026 are Julien Vermote and Tosh Van der Sande, while the team has internally decided to move Matteo Jorgenson (hill classics) and Victor Campenaerts (long-time lieutenant for Jonas Vingegaard) into different roles.

“Almost my last two seasons were nearly identical, so change was welcome,” said the American, who will share leadership in the Ardennes classics with Louis Barré and Ben Tulett. “In 2026 I’ll skip some Flemish races and focus more on the hill classics. Ideally I’d race all spring classics, but to really excel in the Ardennes you have to make choices,” said Jorgenson, representing the team’s broadened goals: where winning Flanders or Paris-Roubaix used to be the aim, now the team targets at least one Monument.

“One of my main goals in the spring is Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race I’m really looking forward to. I feel races with longer climbs suit me better — I set the bar high. It’s a great challenge,” added Jorgenson, who will still ride Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo.

For that reason, Milan-Sanremo logically becomes a bigger target for the team. After a two-year absence, Wout van Aert returns to the start of the only Monument he’s won before, this time alongside promising talent Matthew Brennan.

The pressure won’t be placed directly on the young Brit — he begins his season at the Tour Down Under and “he’s mainly going there to learn; we don’t expect him to go for a result there immediately,” explained Head of Racing Grischa Niermann. Van Aert, for his part, is clear about his own plans: “In the spring I want to be competitive from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad through Paris-Roubaix. I want to show myself everywhere and seize every opportunity that comes my way.”

Even after losing Van Baarle and Benoot and with Jorgenson switching roles, Visma | Lease a Bike shows no signs of concern. The credo “where one door closes, another opens” seems ingrained in the team. “We hope to have Laporte back after two years away from the spring,” was the joint sentiment from Van Aert, Plugge and Niermann.

Beyond that leadership duo, Timo Kielich, who joined from Alpecin-Deceuninck and impressed with his positioning skills, will be a consistent presence in the spring work — and will also ride the Giro d’Italia with Vingegaard.

New acquisitions Filippo Fiorelli and Owain Doull will also be part of the spring pool, and Edoardo Affini remains a familiar part of classics line-ups.

All of this combined: if Van Aert looks left and right in Antwerp on 5 April, he will likely do so without too many worries.